Today’s
a ‘sea day’ on the way to Los Angeles. What does everyone do all day? That is, those like me not writing a blog?
“I’ll
be seeing you, in all the old familiar places
That
this heart of mine embraces, all days through
In
that small café, the park across the way . . .”
.
. . 150 voices swelled and filled the Princess
Theatre.
Today at 2pm we
had “The Concert” by ‘The World Cruise Pop Choir’.
The
main Princess Theatre was full to overflowing with appreciative passengers, and
many were standing three deep up the back. This is the third concert the Choir
have presented since Sydney. There’s been one for each sector of the World
Cruise.
About
150 men and women passengers filled the stage and presented songs like ‘In The
Mood’, ‘On The Sunny Side of the Street’, and popular classics like ‘I’ll Be
Seeing You’ and ‘We’ll Meet Again’ from Wartime England. There was swingin’
stuff like ‘Boogie Woogie Bugle Boy’.
Just
before we got to New York, the Choir did a presentation in the main foyer of
the ship, where everyone else lined up around the four floors of the atrium to
listen to their “American Trilogy” with its stirring ‘Glory, Glory, Hallelujah’
refrain. Alan and Allana who run the Choir had borrowed a large Stars and Stripes flag from the Captain on the
Bridge and it was magnificently unfurled to hang down two floors of the Atrium.
Allan
and Alana are an English brother and sister team employed by Princess to run
various musical activities about the ship. ‘The Choir’ is an extra service they
do for love of music, and the pleasure it gives them to see so many of the
passengers enjoy the singing.
Every
‘sea day’ there’s Choir Practice in the Vista Lounge at 12.15 lunch time, and
Bruce joins the other hundred and something each time – just for the pleasure
of singing in such an enjoyable and well trained group. Today Bruce put his ten
pages of words and jotted notes away in a drawer for the memory. Allan has
promised another ten pages of different songs for after Los Angeles. They will
learn these and present another concert before Sydney.
What do all the
other people do who are not in the Choir? Everyday there’s a four sheet daily
guide called the ‘Princess Patter”. It tells you the whole programme: the day
and date, the expected weather, sunrise and sunset times, and the dress code
for the evening. Tonight is ‘Smart
Casual’ dress for dinner – that is, what you might wear to a nice restaurant. The
alternate is ‘Formal’ dress. Sometimes that’s for a cocktail party in a lounge
– with the Captain – and with free cocktails and canapés. Other times it’s just
for dinner. Bruce hates this Dress Code but I quite like getting dressed up
occasionally.
The ‘Patter’
gives you the whole day’s doings on the ship. With it you know the complete
programme for the day. That is: what’on, what time and where.
Here are
selections from today’s Patter. There are physical things in the morning like
‘Stretch and Release class’, ‘Abs Workshop’ and ‘Core Pilates’. There are Brain Teaser pages to be collected
from the Library, Bridge classes for beginners, Aerobics and different levels
of exercises, a Table Tennis Competition, and a fun Bean Bag Toss or Carpet
Bowls for any takers down in the Atrium.
Activities are
run by the half dozen Cruise Director’s Team. The Cruise Director is an
important Crew Officer. He is responsible for organizing and staffing all the
activities and entertainment on the ship, and liaises closely with the Captain
and officers. Of course, Entertainers
who come on board to perform are employed by Princess Headquarters in USA, but
it’s up to the Cruise Director to set up all the daily programmes.
On sea days
there’s usually a 10am lecture. Today’s is a Destination Lecture by Hutch on
Los Angeles (we met Hutch commenting on Panama Day). Lots of people like these
lectures and you have to be early to be sure of a seat. So you see people
settled up to 30 minutes beforehand with their books, crossword or other
puzzles or games on hand held devices. Often there’s another interesting
lecture at 11.30 on a different topic. Today it’s an ‘Enrichment Lecture’ called ‘California here we Come’ by a retired
teaching-professor from US called Gary Sharan whose talks have proved very
popular.
There are
classes in dance. Today’s is Line Dance. Another day it can be different forms
of ballroom dancing – tomorrow it is Cha
Cha. There’s Shuffleboard, Golf Putting, a Basketball Shootout, Water
Volleyball and Table Tennis for sport enthusiasts, and a meeting for Card and
Mahjong enthusiasts.
Later in the
afternoon today there’s a Wine Tasting, a Probus Members’ Get-together, a
Get-together for DIY enthusiasts, and various Quiz and Trivia challenges.
Sometimes the Get-togethers are for people like iPad users. There are movies on
the Stateroom TVs, sometimes in one of the theatres, and there’s even a huge
Outdoor Movie Screen on Deck 12 (with the swimming pools and sun lounges). There’s also a popular ‘Bingo’ session which
is ongoing day to day till someone wins the increasing jackpot.
The Lotus Spa
has its own programme of presentations. Today it’s ‘Burn Fat Faster’ in the
Aerobics Studio on Deck 12 at eleven o’clock, and ‘Secrets of Aromatherapy’ in
The Lotus Spa at 2pm. The Lotus Spa also has Hairdressing, Manicure, Massages
(you pay) and a whole Gymnasium available for anyone who wants to exercise.
There’s also a more or less constant stream of walkers who pound around Deck 7
all day. I met a lady of 86 the other day who enjoys 9 laps of the Deck per day
in lots of three laps at a time – 3 after breakfast, 3 about 11 o’clock, and 3
in the afternoon. Three laps make up a mile. I can only think ‘there’s no
accounting for taste’ of activities, though I’m sure I’d be a lot fitter now if
I’d had such a regime years ago!
If there are no
activities above that you fancy there’s also the Casino open 24 hours, lots of
Bars and lounges about the ship, and Music Entertainment round the ship in the
evenings. The Boutiques are open and always have a ‘Sale’ at tables on Deck 6
on seadays.
And - there’s
always food available somewhere!
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